Community marks first year of success with kindness - The Stratford Observer

Community marks first year of success with kindness

Stratford Editorial 19th Feb, 2019   0

FOUNDATION House in Stratford is celebrating a successful first year by spreading some love.

The Masons Road community hub is now the long-term home of 14 organisations, with more than 50 others using the spaces for meetings and events.

The aim of the hub – which provides a range of office, storage, meeting and activity rooms – was to bring local charities and community groups together under one roof to support each other and share ideas, resources and expertise.

And to celebrate its first birthday, Stratford Town Trust, the grant-making charity which established and runs Foundation House, is sharing some love to coincide with Random Acts of Kindness Week which gets underway on Monday.




A kindness tree, made by hub-based Stratford Men’s Shed, will be taking pride of place at Foundation House. Everyone has been invited to hang a heart with a message of thanks, and to think of more ways of helping each other.

Foundation House spokeswoman Rachel key said: “We think this is such a lovely way to mark our first birthday – and the first birthday of the really special community this building has brought together.


“Acts of kindness that are seemingly so small can make such a big difference, and the community here is teeming with them – from the arm of friendship groups like the Men’s Shed extend, to the donations given to the Stratford Uniform Bank. “Personally, I’ll be hanging a note to thank Penny from Welcombe Radio for planting spring bulbs outside the building here, so it’s literally all hearts and flowers.”

A first birthday Community Café will be held on Friday February 22, from 10am to 11.30am, when everyone is invited for a chat over a cuppa and a slice of cake, and a chance to add to the kindness tree.

The Foundation House community includes Change Grow Live, Escape Arts, Heart of England Woodturners, Rubbish Friends, Safeline, Second Thoughts Drama Group, Shakespeare Lions, Stratford Ambulance Association, Stratford Army Cadets, Stratford District Radio Society, Stratford Men’s Shed, Warwickshire Reminiscence Action Project, Stratford Uniform Bank and Welcombe Radio.

Visit www.foundationhouse.co.uk for further details.

Acts of Kindness collected so far include:

“Thanks to the Safeline counsellor who quietly noticed one day that I was run ragged and exhausted. Without a word she popped out and bought me a sandwich and a packet of crisps to reenergise me. What a lovely lady.” – Becky at Rubbish Friends.

“Thanks to Welcombe Radio, for asking my partner to talk about being dyslexic, he found it so valuable to talk about something he has kept hidden for many years.” – Ali at Warwickshire County Council

“Thanks to Rachel at Foundation House – for coming in early on a Friday – on your only day off – to open up for me to prepare to teach my lovely students of Welcombe Hills. The whole process of coming to Foundation House felt like a serendipitous act of kindness, not only to me but the wonderful young students of the school.” – Bobby at PharmAveda

“Thanks to John from Men’s Shed for giving me some beetroot from his allotment.” – Rachel at Foundation House

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